


Have you read this?

by Fandom_Overload7890



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Abuse, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Attempted Sexual Assault, Bonding Over Mutual Hate, F/M, Firing, Fuck Alexander, Gen, I hope you're happy now Kayla, My First Work in This Fandom, Please Don't Hate Me, The Reynolds Pamphlet, You should listen to Hamilton they said, moden au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-11 22:43:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7910449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandom_Overload7890/pseuds/Fandom_Overload7890
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How dare he. How dare he tell the world about her life, without even giving her a heads up. The nerve of that self involved bastard. If he didn't like it so much, he should have said no. Well, at least she's got his family on her side.</p>
<p>What happens to Maria after the Reynolds Pamphlet. Modern AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hubris_BNL](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hubris_BNL/gifts).



> This is my first fanfic for Hamilton and on this website. A shoutout to Hubris_BNL for inspiring me to write again and to macaroon22 (http://macaroon22.tumblr.com/) for giving me the idea to put Phillip in this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make it somewhat historically accurate. This story goes out to Hubris_BNL for inspiring me to write again and maroon22 (on tumblr) God giving me an idea. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Hamilton

This wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to do this. He told her he would keep it to himself.  _ Nobody needs to know.  _ What a liar. That no good Treasurer shared everything. Posted it all over the Internet. He didn't even have the courtesy to use fake names. He had to tell the whole world that he had an affair with her. And she thought he might have cared about her. She was wrong. 

 

He ruined her future. No one would hire her. No man would ever want to date her. Because she was a whore. The neighbors were already avoiding her apartment. No one wants to be associated with the girl who had an affair with a married man. Much less a married Secretary of Treasury. 

 

She goes to get the newspaper from outside. Walking up the steps from her underground apartment. People stare at her from their windows. They avert their judging gazing when they catch her eyes watching back. People on the sidewalk that know her keep their distance, not wanting to be associated with the most famous slut in the country. Maybe the world by now. There is a cartoon of Maria, Alexander, and James on the cover. It shows her in a revealing outfit up against Alexander while James stands on the other side of Alexander counting money. After the shock of being front page, Maria can barely look at it. You would think she would be used to her newfound popularity by now, seeing as the affair had been public for almost a week. But she wasn’t. These comments were just as hurtful now as they were then. Part of her wants to throw the newspaper away, as she had been doing so far. Another part wants to read. She just leaves it on the table. Maria's day is bad enough, no need to make it worse by reading what is being said about her. Said about the whore who ruined a perfectly good family. 

 

Maria walks into her closet sized bathroom. The reflection looks exactly how she feels. Her skin was ashen and she had a pimple near her hairline on the right side of her face, most likely from stress. There were dark circles under her eyes, a tribute to how much sleep she had gotten the previous night. Strands of hair hung around her face. Maria sucked in a deep breath. She had to look nice today, she had to prove that this was just a minor bump in the road. She couldn’t let that narcissistic bastard win.

 

Maria had never stood straighter. Head up, shoulders back, and hair and makeup on point, Maria walked to work. It wasn’t as bad as she expected, but to be fair Maria expected to be pelted by rotten fruit and have whore shouted from every mouth. Instead it was less dramatic. 

 

Judgmental eyes watched her from everywhere. People stopped to stare at the Secretary of Treasury’s mistress. The worst were the people who pretended that they weren't staring. They would pass her eyes straight ahead, and when they were out of her line of sight, the hairs on the back of her neck would stand up from the feeling of being watched. It was a feeling that she would have to get used to. Maria didn’t want to get used to it. 

 

Maria could barely tolerate work on a normal day. She usually hated smiling at customers, practically begging for tips. But today Maria just wanted to dive into her work. The same way that Alexander did. She remembers watching him after they were done, writing like he was running out of time. So consumed that he just managed to choke out a goodbye-if he realized she left at all. Except she couldn’t do that. Her work involved people. 

 

Her boss wasn’t the type of guy you would want to spend a lot of time with. Henry was pretty stereotypical. He was short and pudgy. He prefered to wear striped button down shirts instead of the restaurant uniform. His hair was thinning on the top so when he got nervous he started to fix it, trying to cover the bald spots. 

 

He was trying to cover the bald spots now.

 

“Please sit down.” He gestured to the pull out chair in front of his miniature desk.

 

“I think I’d rather stand while you fire me” his face went pale, “don’t worry about it. I’m not surprised. You were about to tell me that I’m a good worker but I don’t represent the image that this restaurant wants.” His hands paused.

 

“Miss Reynolds I-”

 

“Lewis’

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Miss Lewis. James and I got divorced years ago.” He gave me a small smile and let out a small breath of air.

 

“My apologies Miss Lewis, but I’m afraid you hit it right on the head” he looked at her with sad eyes.  _ He pities me. _

 

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure something out. I mean, there are plenty of jobs for whores these days. There's a lovely strip club a couple blocks away from my house that I’m sure would love to give me a job.” She gave him a bitter smile. The name tag make a sharp noise against the wooden desk. Maria turned and left, she couldn’t let this embarrassment continue.

 

Her former coworkers stared at her as she walked out. Not even any of the people she made friends with in this place has the courage to look at her. Some friends. She guessed she oughta get used to this-friends doing a disappearing act. Matters were only made worse by the guy on the street.

 

He was just like James. His pants were sagging, giving her a clear view of his white boxers. He had a sleazy smile that made her wish she could run past him. Unfortunately she was just close enough to him to catch the fading smell of beer.  _ I guess it’s never too early.  _ His eyes roamed her body like she was nothing more than art on display. 

 

“Hey baby, you lookin’ for a new sugar daddy? Cause if you come over here I can rock you like you rocked the country!” He laughed at his own pathetic joke.

 

Maria couldn’t suppress a shudder. This wasn’t the first catcall she had ever gotten, but this one came with a realization. This would be her life from now on. Yells from guys on corners. People who think that she's nothing but a gold digger. Nothing but a cold calculated bitch. A girl who would sleep with a guys for money. The whole country, possibly the whole world, thought she was a prostitute.

 

Maria kept walking.

 

“Hey! I’m talking to you!” He was quicker than she expected. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. He grabbed her ass to keep her in place and pulled her into him too close for something that even remotely resembled comfort. He put his face close to hers. She could feel his breath on her lips. “See? Isn’t this nice?” 

 

“Let. Go. Of. Me.”

 

“Come on. You know you enjoy this. I bet you hadn’t had this much fun since you got fucked by Alexander Hamilton.” She couldn’t breath. Her chest was being crushed and her lungs were being popped like balloons. And she couldn’t breath. Her vision was getting watery. The whole world was drowning before her eyes. Her knees knocked together, she couldn’t stop shaking. God, she could break away from his gripp if she could just stop shaking. She was being weak.  _ Just control yourself Maria! Stop being so WEAK! _

 

_ Maria was scared for her life. James, her lovely husband, was causing her to fear for her life. Everyone had said she shouldn’t get married so young. She shouldn’t drop out of school. But what else was she to do? She was a young black women from a poor family. She had no money, she wasn’t particularly smart, she wasn’t going to amount to anything. But she had one thing. A man who loved her.  _

 

_ James treated her like a lady. He opened the door for her, bought her presents, made her feel special for once in her life. So when he wanted her to make him feel special in return, who was she to say no? And then he gave her the most beautiful gift of all. Susan. _

 

_ Susan was incredible. The labor was long, but after it was finished she and James held their beautiful baby girl and pointed out her features. She had Maria’s nose and lips, and James structure and face shape. But her eyes. Her eyes were all hers. James and her both had brown eyes, but Susan’s were hazel. Shocks vibrant grass green mixed with hazelnut made her eyes mesmerizing.  _

 

_ They moved into a tiny apartment in the city. It was just big enough for two of them, much less the two of them and a baby, but they made it work. That became her motto. Just make it work. Just make it work when their wasn’t enough food. Just make it work when James got wasted. Just make it work when she got hurt and couldn’t go to the doctor. The risk of losing Susan was too great.  _

 

_ James didn’t seem like the type to beat up his wife. He seemed like the type to get a few drinks. Then to get a few more drinks. And a few more. After that the cards were off the table.  _

 

_ He would come home smelling like beer and call for her. _

 

_ “Maria? Maria? Where are you, you ungrateful bitch?” And she would come out, knowing what was in store for her. But she had to come out. Or else he would look for her, and her would find Susan. God only knows what he would do then.  _

 

_ Every night it was a slight deviation from the previous night. He would then make some kind of comment, whether it be the state of the house or the state of Maria herself, it always got him angry. _

 

_ “You cunt! You can’t do anything, can you?” He kicked her in the stomach. She was already on the floor from when he shoved her into the cabinet. “I go to work so there will be food on the table! I slave away all day at work so this family can eat! And yet, I come home and there is no dinner waiting for me!” He roared at her, the top of his foot catching her chest. She couldn’t breath. There was so much air around her, yet she could get any of it. _

 

_ “I’m sorry!” she gasped, half sobbing. She made an attempt to stand. Pitching forward, she fell right into the kitchen table. _

 

_ “You women are all so weak.” _

 

Maria felt the man's grip tear away from her. She collapsed against the wall, desperate to regain her senses. She felt disoriented and wanted to lie down.  _ I guess I’ll have more than enough time to do that now. _

 

There was now another boy in the alley. He had long curly black hair, and as far as Maria could tell, was beating the shit out of her attempted rapist. His fist make a slapping sound against the attackers skin, a sound that was all too familiar to Maria. Eventually her saviour let the man get up.

 

“If I ever see you again or see you anywhere near her again, so help me god, people will think they repainted the sidewalk red.” The assholes eyes widened as much as they could. His eye was a purplish red color. His bottom lip was so fat that Weight Watchers would have deemed it a lost cause and there was a cut above his right eyebrow. He turned around and ran.

 

Her savior turned around. His hair was shoulder length, and complimented his tan skin very well. Freckles dotted his entire face. He was wearing a pastel blue shirt and black shorts with basketball shoes. His face was achingly familiar, but Maria couldn’t put her finger on it. Only when he asked her “are you okay?” did she realize who had just saved her.

 

_ Phillip Hamilton _

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria gets some unexpected visitors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long to upload! The motivation just came and went. This chapter is longer than the first, but I hope you guys like it.

He was all over the news. Well, him and his whole family. Elizabeth Hamilton was refusing to make any kind of appearance or damage control. Phillip, as the oldest, therefore made a comment for her. Our family is taking the time to recover from such a large tragedy, and would be very grateful to the public to respect our space at the time. A large tragedy. That’s what he called it. A tragedy that Alexander thought she was attractive.

“Are you okay?” She couldn’t let him recognized her. She ignored his outstretched hand and pushed herself up. She muttered a quick thanks in his direction, conscious to hide her face. Maria started to walk down the street, hoping that he would just leave her alone and continue to go about his business.

Maria couldn’t believe her luck. Publicly embarrassed, fired, then almost got raped, and saved by her lover's son. Her eyes got hot, she couldn’t stanch the flow of tears that came pouring out of her eyes. She was so pathetic, wasn’t she? She was a pushover. She ruined Phillips life. She was selfish enough to get help from Alexander. To listen to James, to seduce a man with a beautiful wife and lots of children. For what? Money and a shitty husband. If she hadn’t married James, if she stayed in school, if she wasn’t so pathetic, maybe she could've stopped this. She tried to warn him. Sent him an email telling him James’ plan. Like that would stop anything. She let out a sob.

“Miss! Are sure you’re okay?” Maria whipped around.

“Yes, I’m so okay I’m practically Oklahoma!” Admittedly, not one of Maria’s best.

“What? Are you-” He suddenly stopped talking. He recognized her. How could he not? she was famous. She started walking away, practically running.

“Wait!” she was running now. Tears freely flowing from her eyes now. She was sure her makeup would be ruined, if she hadn’t waterproofed it this morning. She thought it was good to be prepared. Be prepared for crying. Not ruining away from her ex-lover’s son. 

Crosswalk. 

One block.

Two blocks. 

“Stop! Please!” He was still chasing her. God, he was stubborn. Just like him. 

She couldn’t stop now. Not when she was so close. Close to what, she had no idea.

“I don’t blame you!” 

She stopped short. He was lying. He was lying. He was lying. How could he not blame her? She blamed her. He just said that to get her to stop. Get her to stop so he could yell at her. Call her a slut. Call her a whore. Call her the woman who ruined his family. And she deserved it. 

She could feel him behind her. She could hear him panting from the unexpected run. “I don’t blame you” He said, quieter this time.  
“Liar” She whispered. Maria realized how tired she was. Her legs sore from the run, and her breath short.

“Can we please talk?” Maria internally argued with herself. She should hear what he had to say. Let him get all his anger out. And he could tell Mrs. Hamilton, Elizabeth, how sorry she was. That she had no choice. That if she could take it all back she would. 

But should she risk taking him to her house? Giving away her address, for him and his friends to come back and vandalize. Go give to the press (they hadn’t found out where she lived yet, thank god for small mercies. That’s not to say that she hadn’t been harassed by the media. Walking down the street, to the store, getting something to eat. They rushed her. Asking her about the affair and how she was coping. If she had talked to James or Alexander since. If she was glad that his life was destroyed. If she was really that cold hearted.). She didn’t know if she could handle that. But she needed to take that risk. She had to apologise. 

“Follow me. Stay behind me.” And she kept walking.

 

Phillip Hamilton is in her kitchen. Phillip Hamilton is in her kitchen. Phillip Hamilton is in her kitchen. And neither of them know what to say. 

He looked awkward in her house. Like he didn’t belong. He looked around, sweeping the most of her house in one glance. Philip had grown up with money. Hell, he was still growing up with money. 

You could tell Maria was poor from her house. Her apartment wasn’t in a good neighborhood. Her small kitchenette was practically on top of the front door. The chipped table was between that and her cabinets. They held all her books and pictures. Pictures of her as a kid. Pictures of her with her kid.

“Where’s your daughter?”

Maria turned and looked at him, anger evident in her voice.

“Gone. Apparently leaving a child in an abusive household is a crime. CPS took her. Thank your father for me.” She saw the realization on his face. Alexander wrote about how James was abusive. His father took away her daughter.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. Even if I don’t go to jail, there’s no way I’ll ever get custody again.”

Silence spoke louder than the absent words. It surrounded and suffocated them, leaving their voices bare, hollow. There was nothing to say. Nothing he could say that would make her situation any better. She looked at the table, and he looked at her. She felt his eyes searching her, roaming her body. Not in a sexual way. In a curious way. Why? His eyes asked, why did you do it? Eventually his mouth caught up with his eyes. 

“What happened?” 

And she told him. She told him about James. She told him about what he did, how he hurt her. Hurt her and left, but not without some words thrown her way. When you go crawling to some bastard for help, go to Alexander Hamilton. 

She told him about the other times. The other times he left her and Susan with nothing but a name. And the other times she went to them, begging for help. And then begging for them to stay, to keep paying, so she could stay above the water for just a little longer. Luckily, she didn’t use her real name for those.

But Alexander was different. He was smart, and he cared about her. Or she thought he cared about her. She couldn’t resist. Plus, she knew he would thoroughly search her identity.

He treated her to gifts. She never knew what to say when he brought her necklaces and bracelets. Chocolate and money. He would talk to her about his job. Tell her about the cocky Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson. About how they argued at every turn, never agreeing and shooting down his economic plans at every single opportunity. About the backstabbing James Madison, who used to be friends with Alexander. Working together to better the country, until he turned around and joined forces with Jefferson to take Alexander down. About the infuriating Senator Aaron Burr, who never spoke up. Never shared his opinion. “How could he stay quiet? How could he say nothing to all the injustices in the world?” Of course, he wasn’t a senator then. But more on that later.

“Aw c’mon! Don’t do that!” Maria laughed, truth be told she was enjoying Philips company. It was nice to have someone to listen to her side of the story.

“Well now you might never know!” He groaned and she laughed some more.  
But things weren’t all perfect. Alexander Hamilton was known for having a temper, and being in a relationship didn’t change that. There were rules that she would follow. So that she wouldn’t make him mad. He might not have been James Reynolds, but all men were dangerous when mad. When they would kiss, sometimes he would bite her lip, so hard he drew blood. But he wouldn’t stop. She would leave the house tasting blood on her lips. But physical violence she could handle. The worst was his family. 

Never mention the Hamilton family. Talking about Elizabeth or any of the kids would be like flipping a switch. Gone was the pitying looks, replaced by fire in the eyes. 

“Never talk about them! Do you understand? Never!” He would roar, and Maria’s hand would start to shake, a clear sign she was afraid. Of him. She always just took it as a sign of guilt.

She watched Philip, looking for a reaction. An outburst of “No!” or something. But instead he nodded.

“I could believe that.” 

She nodded and continued. She told Philip about James, and how when Alexander got the blackmail he charged into her house demanding for explanations and apologies. He screamed and she pleaded. If he just paid, then everything would be okay. No one would know. He could keep his family. He could keep his reputation. He could keep his life. Somehow they ended up sleeping together that night, and somehow Alexander paid the blackmail.

After that the relationship wasn’t the same.  
Her back hit the wall. Hard. His mouth attacked hers, taking everything it wanted and more. His tongue roamed around inside her mouth, running over the inside of her mouth, his teeth biting her lip. Drawing blood. The metallic taste wasn’t pleasant, and she drew away to inspect the wound. Alexander gave her a look that was a mixture of curious and angry.

“What are you doing?” he asked like it wasn’t obvious.

“You bit me.” It was the only explaination needed. He appeared conflicted at the news. It was something he’d never done before, and she could tell he felt a bit guilty.

“Are you okay?” 

“Yeah.”

He went back to kissing her. Only a bit. I’m sure he’s more than a bit guilty now. 

 

She saw Phillip again a week and a half later. Only this time it wasn’t just Phillip.

“Mrs. Hamilton” Maria was speechless.

She looked like a regal wreck.

She sat up, back perfectly straight. She was wearing a light blue dress, and her hair was in a bun at the nape of her neck. Her eyes seemed to look not at Maria, but through her. As if she was seeing everything she had done with her husband. Or ex-husband. Maria wasn’t aware of the current state of their relationship. Despite this her eyes were rimmed red. She had been crying. Maria had made her cry.

Philip stood behind her. A silent support to his heartbroken mother. He gave her a slight smile. Maria was willing to bet a lot that this was his idea.

“Philip has told me that he saved you from an attacker.” Maria was shocked to hear her speak with such assurance. She sounded polite but also sharp, as if she was containing herself.

“Well men seem to think that since I slept with one guy I’ll sleep with them all. But they’ve always thought like that.” Elizabeth nodded, seeming to slowly process her words.

“Indeed. Men can be pigs.” She looked at her son, “no offense Philip.” He gave his mother a smile in return.

“Oh, offense taken.” 

“You don’t mind leaving us, would you?” Her heart sped up. Elizabeth wanted to talk to her in private. She probably wanted to scream at her. Yell at her from ruining her marriage. Destroying her life.

Philip looked hesitant.   
“No problem.”

He left. And they stared at each other. Maria looked away.

“I burned them.” She snapped her head back to Elizabeth.

“That first day. When the news was released. I was so mad, and hurt that I burned his precious work. The work he valued above everything. Even our family.” Maria didn’t know how to respond. Since Elizabeth seemed to be confessing it seemed only fair that she confessed too.

“We’re divorced. James and I.” It wasn’t much but it was something. 

“G-d, I haven’t seen him in years, but he still manages to ruin my life.” She looked at the picture on the mantle. It was her and her lawyer on the day the divorce was finalized. She had the biggest smile. Mrs. Hamilton followed her gaze.

“Aaron Burr?”

She asked as she approached a man in a grey suit. It was a nice firm, wooden desks and a lot of staff. Everyone looked so busy, she didn’t want to bother them. 

“That depends, who’s asking?” He didn’t say it rudely. He seemed amused. He looked up at her. She couldn’t do this. She was an idiot if she thought she could do this. Divorce him.

“I’m sorry, I should go.” She moved to leave but he stood up.

“Sorry about what?” 

“Bothering you.” He seemed confused.

“Bother me? How?”

“By wasting your time.” He laughed, which Maria didn’t appreciate at all. Alexander was right. He was a bit of a pain in the ass.

“If asking my name is a waste of time, let me waste yours. What’s your name?” Was he hitting on her? Hardly professional.

“Maria Reynolds, sir. But hopefully not Reynolds anymore.” She added as an afterthought.

“Oh, hoping for a divorce?” She nodded. “Well, I can help you with that. Why don’t you sit down.”

Maria looked at her face. She had a much kinder look now. She could see Eliza Hamilton now. The women who worked with so many charities, trying to touch so many lives. 

“My divorce lawyer.” Maria felt the need to explain what Eliza probably already knew. 

“He’s a good man. Despite what my husband says.” She chuckled a bit at that.

“So I take it you don’t plan on divorce?” Maria was taking a risk. She knew that, but she had to ask anyway. Had to know she wasn’t completely ruining this family.

Eliza sighed. 

“No, I don’t think so. I already forgave him a bit too. I just can’t hold grudges. My sister says that I should keep him in the dog pound a bit longer though. That doesn’t mean I completely forgive him.” Maria nodded, understanding. “But that isn’t the only reason I’m here.” Maria knew this was too good to be true. She was going to tell her to stay the hell away from her family. “I heard about your daughter. Is there anything I can do to help” She wasn’t expecting that one. Eliza wanted to help her? Why? She ruined her marriage.

“Why?” Eliza smiled.

“I guess it’s in my nature.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's very unprovable that Maria and Eliza would meet, but I wanted it to happen. It's also unlikely that Eliza would want to help Maria, but it felt in her character. The thing about child abuse is true though, not reporting it is a crime, and could land you jail time. Also, Aaron Burr was Maria's divorce lawyer. That felt too cool to leave out. Rate and Review if you liked it, I live for comments!


End file.
